Religion News: Church gets OK to create police force

Thursday

Apr 13, 2017 at 2:01 AM

WEEK IN RELIGIONThe Alabama Senate recently granted a large Birmingham church the right to create its own police force. In a 24-4 vote, the state senate passed a bill for the Briarwood Presbyterian Church to protect its 4,000 member congregation. Attorney Eric Johnston introduced the bill and said that with the increased violence directed at churches and the numerous events held throughout the year at the church, the police force is necessary. “We’ve got over 30,000 events a year that place at Briarwood — going on all day, all night, at the school, at the church, at the seminary,” Johnston said. “We have to hire policemen all the time. It would be so much easier to have someone on staff. Alabama has granted private universities the right to create a police force, but has never done so for a church. Some critics have said the move was unprecedented and could lead to the covering up of abuse within the church. — More Content Now

SURVEY SAYSReligious restrictions on the riseAccording to the Pew Research Center’s annual study on global restrictions on religion, 40 percent of surveyed countries registered “high” or “very high” levels of overall restrictions in 2015. The “high levels” of restrictions on religion were considered to be due to government policies or actions of the country’s people. In 2014, 34 percent of surveyed countries registered “high levels,” while there were 39 percent in 2013. — More Content Now

GOOD BOOK?“42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robison Story” by Ed HenryJournalist and baseball lover Ed Henry reveals for the first time the backstory of faith that guided Jackie Robinson into not only the baseball record books but the annals of civil rights advancement as well. Through recently discovered sermons, interviews with Robinson’s family and friends, and even an unpublished book by the player himself, Henry details a side of Jackie’s humanity that few have taken the time to see. Branch Rickey, the famed owner who risked it all by signing Jackie to his first contract, is also shown as a complex individual who wanted nothing more than to make his God-fearing mother proud of him. Few know the level at which Rickey struggled with his decision, only moving forward after a private meeting with a minister he’d just met. It turns out Rickey was not as certain about signing Robinson as historians have always assumed.— Thomas Nelson

THE WORDPalm Sunday: The sixth Sunday in Lent and the beginning of the Christian Holy Week before Easter.— ReligionStylebook.com